Ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed the Government of India has decided to release the Maldivian fishing vessel and its crew captured near Minicoy on October 5.
In a statement revealing the Maldivian fishing vessel and its crew would be released by the Government of India, the foreign ministry reminded fishing outside of Maldivian waters is illegal and would carry grave consequences, adding it is illegal according to international laws and treaties, and domestic legislations.
Furthermore, Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture has called all Maldivian fishing vessels to be more cautious and to operate in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as fishing outside the Maldivian waters is against law.
International laws and treaties mandate Maldives to take measures against illegal fisheries. Hence, Maldivian vessels fishing in the waters of other neighbouring countries might negatively impact the Maldivian fishing sector, according to the ministry. Such actions might result in the fisheries oversight body of the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), from blacklisting Maldives. The ministry also stated it shall take necessary actions against vessels fishing in international waters.
International law of the seas grants coastal states sovereign jurisdictions on marine resources in its adjacent section of the continental shelf taken to be a band extending 200 miles from the shore. While Maldives gets 200 miles from the east and the west, the zone between Maldives and Sri Lanka have been split in half as the waters do not allow a clear 200 miles for each nation.
Hence, the fisheries ministry urges all fishing vessels to be extra cautious in operating in international waters between Maldives and India. The ministry estimates the EEZ to stretch to 35 miles to the north of the country.